Bad Ass Mining - Halloween 2010

Evergreen Cemetary, located at 12th street and Glacier Ave., Juneau, AK.Where some of the most influential figures responsible for shaping Alaska are buried. The primary gravesites I was looking for are those of Richard Harris and Joe Juneau. As I've written in previous posts, these two miners are the "founding fathers" of Juneau.

Joseph Juneau (1836 - 1899)

Joe Juneau was a Canadian miner and prospector and co-founder, with Richard Harris, of Juneau. Along with Harris, his partner, and guided by Chief Kowee, Juneau made Alaska's first major gold discovery around 1880 and helped the city of Juneau (originally named Harrisburg) become the hard rock gold capital of the world. The city, re-named for Joe Juneau, has been the center of government in Alaska since 1906. Juneau continued his travels on to Dawson, Yukon Territory, during the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1890s, and died in Dawson in 1899. His remains were returned to Juneau in 1903.

Richard Tighe Harris (October 31, 1833 – October 11, 1907)

Richard Harris was a Canadian miner and prospector who was born in Dummadonald, County Down, Ireland. However, attended Girard College, a private boarding school in Philadelphia, PA (USA).

He is most famous for co-founding, with Joe Juneau, the city of Juneau, Alaska. The first major gold discovery in Juneau or Douglas Island (across from Juneau) was circa 1880. It has been the political capital of Alaska since 1906.

His Native American guide in southeastern Alaska was Chief Kowee. Kowee is credited with discovering much of the Juneau area. Richard and Joe were sent with Kowee by George Pilz, an entrepreneur from Sitka. Richard and Joe traded with the natives much of their grubstake (rations) for hoochinoo (alcoholic brews). Needless to say, the prospectors accomplished nothing. When they returned to Pilz empty-handed, he promptly sent them back to the Juneau area. There, Kowee took them beyond Gold Creek (which today flows beside the city's United States Federal Building) to Silver Bow Basin. Today, a creek on Douglas Island is named Kowee Creek.

After the discovery of gold in Juneau, Richard and Joe loaded approximately 1,000 pounds of gold ore back to Sitka.

It is interesting to note that the town did not take up its current name right away; originally it was known as Harrisburg, Pilzburg, and Rockwell. Apparently, Joseph Juneau was able to bribe (buy votes from) enough of his fellow miners for it to be changed. Even though the city doesn't carry Harris' name anymore, Harris Street remains in Juneau. Richard lived the rest of his life in Juneau, his children and descendants stayed in Juneau for many years.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Gold Creeks Flume Trail

Fourteen years after Thomas Edison invented the incandescent Light, Juneau merchant Willis Thorpe installed a water wheel and an electric generator on the banks of Gold Creek. The year was 1893, and his fledgling power plant soon had a name: Alaska Electric Light and Power Company.

Today, a sophisticated hydroelectric facility now harnasses the power of Gold Creek. The old water flume, however, still remains. The trail that runs along the flume has become a very popular hiking trail.

It takes about 10-15 minutes to walk the entire 3,250 feet of pressure treated lumber that makes up the Flume Trail. The walk is a relatively level one with only 2 obstructions at present. These obstructions are called colluvial (rock) or alluvial (water) driven slides or "fans".

Typically the only wildlife you will see are squirrels or porcupines. Black bear and mountain goats have also been seen near the trail, but I am told it is very rare to see them.

There are many types of trees and foliage along the trail including spruce, hemlock, alder, cottonwood and willow. The devils club is EXTREMELY tall here, so you have to be careful as the thorns embed themselves for weeks and are very irritating.

It is HIGHLY recommended not to go off trail for good reason. Many people have been killed by doing this, and many have been experienced climbers. There are memory plaques along the trail for one of these unfortunate people.

A Little Intermission....

Sorry about the lack of posts lately.... It is not that I haven't been mining as much as haven't been writing about it. At this time, I am waiting for my son Kiegn to join me (September 10th) so that I am not traveling out in the wilds by myself. The mountains here are the most dangerous I have seen anywhere, and can understand why there have been so many accidental deaths. I will be, however, walking a trail today called the Flume Trail, as it is on top of a working flume. For those of you who do not know what a flume is exactly....

A flume is an open artificial water channel, in the form of a gravity chute, that leads water from a diversion dam or weir completely aside a natural flow. Often, the flume is an elevated box structure (typically wood) that follows the natural contours of the land. These have been extensively used in hydraulic mining and working placer deposits for gold, tin and other heavy minerals. They are also used in the transportation of logs in the logging industry, electric power generation and to power various mill operations by the use of a waterwheel.

Last Chance Mining Museum At The Jualpa Mine Camp

Perseverance-Gold-Mining-Company-Mill-Archive-Album-45465

The Last Chance Mining Museum is located in the historic compressor building associated with the former Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company which operated in Juneau from 1912 until 1944. The museum features the world's largest Ingersoll-Rand air compressor and other industrial artifacts associated with hard rock gold mining. The site also includes electric locomotives and rail cars which hauled men to the mine and ore to the mill. Access to the museum is via a short hike up the hill on a trail of uneven terrain-well worth the effort. Museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Alaska Gold Rush Properties.

The museum is the only historic mining building officially open to the public from Juneaus gold rush era. There are MANY artifacts throughout this area that are accessible and well worth exploring. When you think you've seen it all, you stumble across more. So make sure you have extra batteries and lots of storage space, because you WILL be taking a lot of pictures.....
 
The museum is open daily, mid-May through late September 9:30am-12:30pm & 3:00pm-6:30pm
The admission is $4, and well worth the price!

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There is even an easy location to try your luck and strike it rich.

First Monthly Gold Giveaway!

CONGRATULATIONS dawnrc123, you won this months gold!!! You have 7 days to supply me, via email, with your mailing info to receive your prize.

Klondike Gold Rush Video

This is a VERY good video that gives a LOT of background to the mining and hardships of the Klondike gold rush. It is based on the book of the same title.

_/'The Klondike Gold Rush'\_
--( CLICK HERE )--

Treadwell Mine Complex

Treadwell Neighborhood

Case and Draper, PCA 39-863

Alaska State Library

The strike at Gold Creek sparked the Juneau gold rush which resulted in the development of many placer and lode mines including the largest, in their time, gold mines in the world: the Treadwell complex of lode mines on Douglas Island (across a narrow sea channel from Juneau) and the AJ lode mine, in Juneau itself. The steep, wet, timber-covered, seaside mountain setting provided water power, transportation, and lumber such that, "extraordinarily low costs of operation make available low grade ore that under conditions only slightly different would be valueless."

The first claims of what was to become the Treadwell complex were staked in 1881. Mining the Treadwell site began by sluicing residual placers over the lode deposits. Underground mining began with a five-stamp mill operating in 1883. In the mid-1910s, with 960 stamps grinding ore and tunnels reaching as far as 2400 feet below the surface and extending under the sea, Treadwell was one of the most technologically advanced mines of its day. Up to 2000 people worked at the mine before a collapse allowed the rising tide to flood the tunnels in 1917. All operations at the Treadwell ceased by 1922.

As the Treadwell mines declined and closed, the AJ mine rose in prominence. After years of losses and labor problems, the mine became profitable in the mid-1920s: with 600 workers it was setting production records. Through the decade, it was the main economic engine of Juneau. In the 1930s, with 1000 workers, it was an important factor in softening the impact upon Juneau of the Great Depression

If you ever get a chance to visit this historical site, you will not be disappointed! The hiking is very mild, and the trails are well groomed. Many of the buildings are still standing as you can see, and you get a real sense of what the original miners felt as they walked through this area.

There is a wonderful website that is dedicated to the Treadwell complex that I highly recommend.

Treadwell Gold